Greg Steck

President, HPC

Aliniti

Thinking strategically and identifying a talented candidate who will grow with the company.

Client

Hearth Products Controls Company (HPC) has been in business for over 40 years and creates custom outdoor water and fire features, distributes fireplace repair parts, and manufactures lighting. HPC has about 40 direct employees and 40 temp employees and is based in Dayton, OH. HPC has been a Aliniti client since 2016.

Challenge

HPC needed to hire an engineer manager. Because of their growing business, they did not have time to canvas or vet potential candidates. Aliniti helped them find and hire a qualified candidate. A year later, HPC decided to hire someone to fill a manufacturing role on their own, but after 10 months, the employee was not a good fit. HPC needed a unique approach to find talented candidates who would last long-term and would grow with the organization.

Solution

Aliniti benchmarked the position and developed a detailed job description as well as a clearly defined set of goals and targets. Aliniti’s strategic planning, candidate assessment programs, and continued onboarding helped HPC to identify a talented candidate who will fill the role and grow with the company.

Results

“The investment [in Aliniti] was extremely successful because of how they manage the recruitment process from start to finish. If you choose [to hire] the wrong person, it wastes everyone’s time in the organization and you have to start over again. It’s three steps back, and then when someone new comes in, they want to change everything and you have to start all over again. There is a huge value to hiring them.

Doing benchmarking for the role was well worth it. I’ve worked in HR and I’ve done PIQ, and how [Aliniti] approached hiring was something I hadn’t seen, and it was very interesting. I learned quite a bit and can apply it to other roles.

Rich (the candidate found by Aliniti) is doing a fabulous job and it allows me to focus on the more macro things I should be doing.” said President Greg Steck.

“Before Aliniti, I kept having to dive into the manufacturing side– that’s our nucleus.”

Greg Steck, President

Creating a custom, detailed position is key.

Aliniti worked with HPC to develop detailed job descriptions and benchmarks for the role. Completing these initial steps helped identify the qualities that HPC needed to look for in potential candidates and created clarity for the interview process.

Aliniti crafted and tailored the hiring process to meet HPC’s needs, rather than farming resumes. Aliniti invested time in researching the market and spoke with similarly situated people to assess if the opportunity would attract the right candidate. Together with HPC, Aliniti conducted Trimetrix® assessments to evaluate each employee, identifying their strengths and areas of improvement by analyzing their behavior, motivations and values. Through this process, Aliniti located and contacted a passive candidate, Rich Meisner.

Canvassing passive recruits.

Meisner had previously worked as a contract engineer and was not looking for a job. When Jessica from Aliniti reached out to him and explained that Aliniti was a strategic partner, not a recruiter, Meisner became interested. They met for coffee and Meisner decided to go through the personality and compatibility testing.

“[After testing] I met with the president [of HPC]. I wanted to know how he treated people… I quickly realized that Aliniti, HPC, and my vision of [company] culture all matched,” said Meisner. “Aliniti was upfront with what [pay and benefits] they could get me. The whole process was very informative. I learned a lot about myself.”

“[Aliniti’s onboarding process] is the most detailed process that I’ve ever been through. There is nothing left for interpretation, everything is spelled out.”

Rich Meisner, Candidate

Continued onboarding for retention.

After finding the best candidate, Aliniti implemented a detailed onboarding process focused on providing the right tools for success on the job and provided coaching sessions. Aliniti’s process with Meisner was data-driven and broke down specific assignments so that the transition into the new role is successful.

Finding the right fit makes all the difference.

Meisner has been on the job for over six months with continued success in his new role. He enjoys working for HPC and had an excellent experience with Aliniti. Because of the customized process, the results were entirely different from searching for resumes using keyword searches.

“If you choose [to hire] the wrong person, it wastes everyone’s time in the organization and you have to start over again,” said Greg. “It’s three steps back, and then when someone new comes in, they want to change everything and you have to start all over again. Lewis [at Aliniti] knows his game and is very good at it. I maybe could have had Rich 2 years ago. There is a huge value to [hiring the right person].”